Congressman Adam Schiff Calls For Government Aid for Entertainment Professionals

As the Covid-19 outbreak continues to take its toll on the entertainment industry, Congressman Adam Schiff is urging government officials to support legislation to provide relief to entertainment professionals as they weather the fallout from the crisis.

In a piece penned for Variety, the congressman details the very real struggle faced by many artists as the pandemic paralyzes not only the arts, but the service industry, which many arts professionals rely on for survival between gigs.

Congressman Schiff has outlined ways that Congress can, and must, support the arts during this difficult time.

He writes, "Congress has already passed bipartisan legislation to help protect the health and financial security of families across the country as we confront this unprecedented challenge. But we will need to pass a much larger relief package, and do so soon, including direct payments to Americans to help them weather this storm.

Entertainment workers must not be left behind. Due to the unique, sporadic nature of work in their industry, benefits like unemployment insurance should be expanded to adequately cover those contract workers and freelancers who work in the entertainment industry.

One solution is to allow these workers to obtain unemployment benefits based on verifiable anticipated earnings for a current or future contract that was canceled or postponed, rather than based on prior wage history. This week, along with over a dozen other members of Congress, I urged congressional leadership to adopt this model for future legislation addressing the health and economic impacts of coronavirus."

Read the full story at Variety.